Former Providence Day girls basketball star Tiffany Mitchell is one of 12 prospects invited to the WNBA draft Thursday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

In the spring of 2012, Mitchell was named N.C. Ms. Basketball and the Charlotte Observer player of the year after her senior season. She then went to play at South Carolina for coach Dawn Staley, whom Mitchell idolized as a player when Staley was in the WNBA, including with the now-defunct Charlotte Sing. At South Carolina, Mitchell was a three-time Associated Press All-American, a three-time All-SEC first team pick and was two-time SEC player of the year.

In several draft projections, Mitchell is selected at the No. 6 spot by the Los Angeles Sparks.

ESPN2 will have live coverage of the first round Thursday at 7 p.m.

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Basketball

▪ Former Independence High basketball star Jeff McGill passed away Wednesday after a long battle with stomach cancer. His son, Jaylan, is a junior guard at Winston-Salem’s Quality Education. Jaylan transferred from Olympic High after his sophomore season. Jeff McGill, 50, played at Wake Forest and Eastern Kentucky.

▪ Former Olympic High star C.J. Jackson has committed to Ohio State. Jackson, a 6-1 point guard, averaged 16.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game at Eastern Florida State junior college last season.

▪ North Mecklenburg basketball star Jaylen McManus, a 6-6 senior forward, has committed to College of Charleston.

Baseball

Providence’s Tucker Jones has taken an academic scholarship to Clemson, his father, Tony, told the Observer. Tucker Jones was MVP of the Panthers’ 2015 state championship win. Tucker carries a 4.6 grade-point average and is part of a Panthers team that is 15-1 and ranked No. 6 in MaxPreps’ latest national poll.

Football

Northwest Cabarrus has named Brandon Gentry as its new football coach. Gentry, 36, will start his first head coaching job. He was defensive coordinator at South Carolina’s T.L. Hanna High. He is the school’s third head coach in the past six months. After Rich Williams stepped down in November, Hopewell’s Charlie Gray, but only lasted two months before the position was reopened in March.

▪ The 2016 Powerade Regional 7-on-7 championship is July 15-16 at the Matthews Sportsplex and Butler High School. As many as 32 teams are expected to participate in the event, which will feature an opening ceremony at Charlotte Motor Speedway July 14. The first-place team wins a voucher worth $10,000 from a national sporting goods retailer; second gets $2,500; third gets $1,000.

Misc

Covenant Day has named Sherry Kapelar as its new athletics director. She is currently AD at Raleigh St. David’s and formerly worked as an associate/assistant athletics director at Charlotte Country Day.

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Harding High wins state 4A football championship: Coach dances

Harding High battled Scotland County in the NCHSAA Football Championship game at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem, NC on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. Harding defeated Scotland County 30-22. Following the victory head coach Sam Greiner did a little dance for the team.